Solid Fraction Data And Its Importance In Pharmaceutical Roller Compaction Operations

Dry granulation is used in the pharmaceutical industry to improve powder flow by increasing their granular particle size. This is accomplished by using a roller press, which can be configured for different granule size and quality. Roller compaction has a significant effect on the properties of granules and their suitability for tablet production¹. The technique involves pressing powders together under high pressure to produce larger granules. Two pressure rollers squeeze the powder to make a ribbon of material of uniform thickness and density, which is then passed through a low-shear mill. The method is used widely in drug manufacture to produce solid dosage forms of high quality.

The Process
Regulating roller compaction is essential to control granule properties. Maintaining a uniform density across the ribbon allows granulates with a more uniform particle size to be produced. Altering limits, such as the feed-in speed of the powder, the speed of the roller itself and the nip angle of the rollers to the ribbon, also allows the granulates properties to be fine-tuned. In this way, the granules can then control other product properties such as porosity, flowability, homogeneity, compactability and compressibility in the final product. These factors are essential as they influence dissolution profiles, disintegration times, and hardness of the final solid dosage form.